Oral history interview with Scott A. Cairy, [sound recording], 1979.

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Oral history interview with Scott A. Cairy, [sound recording], 1979.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/756491932

Scott A. Cairy, an Andrew, Iowa native, discusses his career with the 32nd Infantry Division, National Guard, and Wisconsin State Guard, including service in France in World War I and stateside during World War II. Cairy talks about organizing a National Guard unit for Platteville (Wisconsin) after the declaration of war in 1917: calling the adjutant general, enlisting over two hundred men, being commissioned as a 1st lieutenant, mobilizing at Camp Douglas (Wisconsin), and training at Camp MacArthur (Texas), where the 32nd Division was organized. He tells of getting orders for his regiment to sail overseas on the SS Tuscania, having his orders changed to the SS Orduna instead, seeing the destruction at Halifax Harbor the day after the explosive collision of two ships, riding to Liverpool in a convoy, and hearing the Tuscania had been sunk. Cairy details the tough training at Camp Coëtquidan (Brittany, France) before leaving for the Front. He speaks of his first battle in Alsace Lorraine, commanding a group of machine guns, a forced march to Chateau-Thierry, and being gassed directly after their arrival. Cairy touches on winning the battle of Juvigny Plateau, being near Montfaucon during the battle of the Argonne Forest, and running into a German artillery unit while on reconnaissance for an ammunition dump. He describes reorganizing an engineer outfit during the chaos of combat, ordering the 147th Field Artillery's Battery to fire on the German artillery, and being knocked unconscious by an artillery shell. In the hospital for eight months, he reflects on the 32nd Division's occupation duties and their being forbidden to fraternize with Germans. After his discharge in 1919, Cairy tells of wanting to get out of the Army, but being convinced by the adjutant general to "temporarily" organize a company of the National Guard and accompany them to camp. Cairy stayed in the Guard until 1947. He characterizes and tells anecdotes about Ralph M. Immell, George S. Patton, Robert Bruce McCoy, and Herbert M. Smith (of the 126th Infantry Regiment). Cairy talks about failing a physical in 1940 and being put in charge of internal security with the State Guard. He speaks of writing the first National Guard training schedule for Wisconsin and organizing maneuvers. Cairy details reorganizing the security of the docks in Superior (Wisconsin), mentions there were two failed sabotage attempts on Wisconsin docks, and tells of refusing to make dam security the responsibility of the Guard.

Master recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Safety master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 50 min.); analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 25 p.Military papers : 0.1 linear ft. (1 folder)

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8141973

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Cairy, Scott A., 1889-1986

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pp02cp (person)

Cairy (1889-1986) organized Company I, 4th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division during World War I, served stateside with the 128th Infantry Regiment until 1940, and was executive officer to the adjutant general in the Wisconsin State Guard during World War II. He served in the Iowa National Guard from 1908 to 1911, and organized Company I of the 4th Infantry Regiment in 1917 in Platteville (Wisconsin). Cairy entered the Inactive National Guard in 1940, and in 1947 he was discharged at the ...

McCoy, Robert B., 1867-1926.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vz02x5 (person)

Immell, Ralph M.

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United States. Army. Infantry Division, 32nd

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Wisconsin Veterans Museum

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Patton, George S. (George Smith), 1885-1945

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George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general of the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, and the United States Army Central in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Born in 1885, Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied fencing and designed the M1913 Cavalry Saber, more commonly known ...

Doherty, T. J. (Tom J.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v41qp0 (person)

Smith, H. Maynard (Herbert Maynard), 1869-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6765q6b (person)

Smith (1903-2005) was a member of the Wisconsin National Guard for twenty four years. He served in the Wisconsin State Guard and in World War II. From the description of Oral history interview with Herbert M. Smith [sound recording], 1999. (Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center). WorldCat record id: 83596435 ...

United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 128th

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Wisconsin. National Guard

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The Wisconsin National Guard was established as such by Chapter 208, Laws of 1879, but it was preceded by both a territorial and a state militia (WIHV91-A663). As a result of the lack of uniformity among the National Guard units participating in the Spanish-American War, Congress enacted a law in 1903 to unify the National Guard under federal supervision. The governor, constitutionally, is the commander in chief of the Wisconsin National Guard. However, the National Guar...

Wisconsin. National Guard. Infantry Regiment, 4th. Company I.

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